NAPA has been aligned with Michael Waltrip, above, since joining NASCAR's premier series in 2001 and has been with MWR since the team entered Sprint Cup in 2007. / Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

NASCAR's greatest escape artist is facing the ultimate test of his - and his team's - existence.

Michael Waltrip has survived more withering adversity than virtually anyone in the Sprint Cup Series, but the impending loss of NAPA from Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 56 Toyota after this season is easily the worst predicament.

Worse than the 0-for-462 losing streak that started his career in NASCAR's premier series.

Worse than the rocket fuel scandal in 2007 Daytona 500 qualifying that left Michael Waltrip Racing on the brink of bankruptcy in its first season before being rescued by millionaire Rob Kauffman.

Worse than when Waltrip failed to qualify for 19 races that same season and managed only four top 10s over his final two full seasons before yielding to Truex.

Waltrip's life is centered squarely on stock-car racing, and he literally has mortgaged everything - this is a car owner who admittedly lives in an apartment above a pizza joint instead of a palatial estate - for a coveted spot as a championship contender at the sport's most high-stakes poker table.

Unlike diversified peers such as Rick Hendrick, Roger Penske and Jack Roush who have other businesses to fall back on (and bridge cash shortfalls for their teams), Waltrip is all in on NASCAR, and NAPA might be the tipping point that completely wipes out his bankroll with no hope of recovering.

An industry expert said Thursday the team faces the "possibility of extinction," and it isn't hyperbole.

NASCAR is a sport in which teams are fueled by massive injections of corporate largesse, and it's hard to envision a scenario in which Waltrip emerges with his three-car organization intact in its current form.

Never mind that it's virtually impossible to land a multimillion-dollar sponsor in a cutthroat sponsor environment where powerhouse teams still are sewing up operating budgets for 2014 and the companies being pursued remain extremely stingy with their marketing budgets.

Toss in the taint of being front and center for among the most unpleasant episodes in NASCAR history, and Truex's ride will be far from an easy sell even for Waltrip, whose goofball persona belies his boardroom savvy.

Besides there already might be a need to prioritize damage control on the home front with MWR's other major backers.

While Aaron's - which announced a multiyear extension last month as Vickers' sponsor - tweeted its support and loyalty to MWR on Thursday, 5 Hour Energy - which sponsors Bowyer - has stated they are evaluating their ongoing participation with NASCAR and don't expect to make a decision until the season is over.

It's stunning how quickly a seeming V Day - for roughly 48 hours, MWR had two cars in the Chase for the second consecutive season - turned into D Day. After standing to pad its bank account with a few million in bonuses from Truex's Chase spot, MWR now has lost that and at least 10 times as much - NAPA will yank more than $30 million off the table by vacating the final two years of its deal - with the possibility still more could vanish. Kauffman might be able to keep the team afloat in the interim, but he already was subsidizing some of Bowyer's season, and there are limits to which a good businessman will spend money with little hope of recouping it.

This isn't intended as a sympathy note for Waltrip. If there's a tragic figure in this scandal, it's Martin Truex Jr. The 33-year-old driver who was the least complicit in the wrongdoing at Richmond has suffered the most harm, first by an unceremonious disqualification from the Chase and now with his team's long-term stability teetering barely a year after its future seemed secure.

It's hard to muster such empathy for Waltrip. His team has been linked to major allegations of foul play twice in six years, and it again will fall on him to resurrect a damaged brand. He has managed it before, sometimes against long odds, but this is the most gargantuan challenge yet - it will require months of incessant assuaging, convincing and placating to prove his team worthy in the eyes of NASCAR fans, executives and sponsors.

It will be a mad scramble at breakneck speeds more daunting than the 200 mph rate he often hit during 773 starts in Cup.

If he pulls it off, it'll be the greatest victory ever for the two-time Daytona 500 winner.

If he doesn't, it probably will be the last meaningful race he ever runs.